


The Red Brassiere

by TheMightyFlynn



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dirty Talk, Dom/sub, F/M, Femdom, Hand Jobs, Kink Exploration, Language, Light Bondage, Masturbation, Pain, Semi-Public Blow Job, Semi-Public Fingering, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 07:52:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13290399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMightyFlynn/pseuds/TheMightyFlynn
Summary: Severus has been working on this potion for the past five years. An encounter with Miss Granger gives him more than enough of the special ingredient he needs to finish his experiments.





	The Red Brassiere

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AmoretteHD](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmoretteHD/gifts).



> Written for the [SSHG_Giftfest](https://sshg-giftfest.livejournal.com) on livejournal.

**Recipient** Amorette  
**Title:** The Red Brassiere  
**Author/Artist:** themightyflynn  
**Pairing:** Severus/Hermione, small mentions of Harry/Draco and Ron/Alicia  
**Rating:** NC-17  
**Word Count:** 19,015  
**Content:** Masturbation, hand jobs, first time kink exploration, semi-public blow job, semi-public fingering, pain kink, dirty talk, bondage, sex, D/s, use of semen in a potion, language.  
**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters belong to JK Rowling and associates. No copyright infringement intended.  
**Summary:** Severus has been working on this potion for the past five years. An encounter with Miss Granger gives him more than enough of the special ingredient he needs to finish his experiments.  
**Author's Note:** Amorette, I absolutely adored your prompts. I seem to have smushed a couple of them together with some of your requests. I hope you like it! My never-ending thanks go out to S for the beta as well!

*~*

“Do it.”

A man lay splayed out in the middle of a stark white room, his arms tied above his head and ankles tied to the legs of the wooden table he lay on. Completely naked and fully erect, he twitched at Severus’ words. It was clear that his jaw was clenched tight, giving Severus the impression that he would be aching for days afterward, but it wasn’t the man’s mouth he was interested in. Or even his cock. No, Severus’ attention was on the man’s chest, which glistened with oil. A potion, in fact, of Severus’ creation.

“Yessir.”

Severus barely resisted rolling his eyes. If it hadn’t been for his need for volunteers to test his potions on, he would have done away with the human element altogether. As it was, it seemed that he was stuck with them. Either that, or he had to test on himself, which he definitely was _not_ willing to do. If something went wrong, he needed to have the presence of mind to be able to reverse the effects and he couldn’t very well do that if he was burning, or breaking out in painful boils. He refocussed when the dumpy-looking woman standing just off to his right stepped closer to the table the man lay on.

“ _Fulgora_.”

The atmosphere crackled as the spell hit the man’s chest. The woman – Verity? Temperance? It was something like that – hadn’t put much power behind it, just as Severus had requested. The whole point of this experiment was to see how the potion reacted to the static electricity, not electrocute the test subject, after all.

He watched, entranced, as the little sparks of energy bounced over the man’s skin. The potion had pooled in his navel and in the dips at the base of the man’s throat and his clavicle, attracting the sparks as they skimmed over it. Severus nodded. Good, this was a good sign.

He had been experimenting with this potion for the past five years. It had started as a distraction for him in the hospital while he recovered from the snake bites, but had developed into a slight obsession, if he had to be honest. He had come close to perfecting it so many times in the past, but had just missed the mark. Now, though…

“How does it feel?”

The man grunted at the sound of Severus’ abrupt question. It took him a few seconds to respond in any other way, causing Severus to purse his lips. Arching his back, the man bit down on his bottom lip, his eyes closing as he huffed his breath out of his nose.

“Verbalise,” Severus snapped. “I need an answer, not a display. If I was after a show I would have hired a whore.”

“Good, good…” The man’s voice was part moan. “It burns, but in a good way.”

Severus watched as the last of the sparks sputtered and died out on the man’s stomach. The man lowered himself back down onto the table, panting a little, his cock still fully erect. Severus stepped closer, examining the points where the potion had pooled, marking things off in the checklist he kept in his mind.

_No scorch marks._  
No residual sparks.  
It died off on its own.  
He enjoyed it… 

It was the last point that had Severus fascinated. If he was going to market this potion, he had to know that it would do what it was advertised to do. There were many potions on the market that claimed to be able to enhance the effects of static electricity, but they were not for the kind of use Severus was looking to market this potion for. Pain management was the big draw for enhancers like this one, but Severus was looking to cause pain, not manage it. Drawing the small phial that held the rest of the potion from the inside pocket of his robes, he uncapped it and held it above the man’s chest, making sure it was in his line-of-sight.

“May I?”

The man nodded rapidly, his mouth still open and panting. Severus poured the remaining potion over the man’s abdomen, starting at his navel and moving slowly down towards his groin. The man shivered as the potion began to pool in the joints where his thighs met his hips and Severus had to hold back a smile.

“ _Fulgora_.”

Severus’ spell had just a touch more power than the first time it had been cast. The sparks were no bigger, but they moved faster, attracted to where the potion pooled in the dips and hollows of the man’s body. It didn’t take long for them to reach the man’s groin. He hissed and arched as they bounced down and over his cock, sparking and popping. The spell was not the only thing that sparked this time, however. A tingling sensation slithered down Severus’ spine as he watched the man’s eyes close and his jaw clench in pleasure. He flexed his fingers, ignoring the sensation and trying to watch on coolly. He took more mental notes, watching avidly as the man bit his lip and groaned.

“Oh, I – I–”

The tingling enhanced as Severus watched the sparks still bouncing over the man’s now-spent cock. His mind threw questions at him about what the sensation would feel like over his own sensitive skin, but he attempted to push them aside. This was not being done for his own personal pleasure, it was for the store and the profit he could make off it. Flexing his fingers again, he refocussed.

The bouncing sparks did not seem affected by the man’s orgasm, or the fluids caused by it. They danced around, still attracted to the potion, although they avoided touching any of the semen that now lay splattered over the man’s belly and chest.

“Fascinating…”

“Though y’said ya din’t wan’ a whore?”

The sound of the woman’s tinny voice grated at Severus’ eardrums. He held back his wince, however; he may have use of the two of them in the near future.

“I do not. I have never been interested in bringing a man to orgasm and this experiment has not changed that fact.”

The man was now panting hard enough that the pooled potion was dripping down onto the floor of the stark room. The mess on his chest was beginning to congeal, something that Severus had not accounted for. But then, he figured, was the aftermath really his problem? Shaking his head, he recapped the bottle and replaced it in the pocket of his robes. Stepping back, he turned to face the woman.

“Prudence?” It was a guess, but seemed to be a good one, as she tilted her head and offered up what she may have thought was a charming smile.

“Yes, sir?”

“Thank your husband for me once he recovers.”

“Yer not comin’ back, then?”

Severus began to shake his head, but stopped himself. If he did have need of someone to experiment on in the future, Prudence and her husband seemed more than willing, especially considering the more than generous compensation he offered them. He cocked his head to the side and pretended to study her for a few seconds.

“I may. If you are willing, I shall contact you when I need to run further tests.”

Prudence glanced between Severus and her husband lying on the table, still recovering. She licked her lips.

“Yes, sir.”

*~*

Diagon Alley always smelled different in summer. Not just because of the stench of sweaty bodies, though. Everything smelt greener, somehow fresher than any other time of year. The trees that lined the other alleyways spread their seeds and pollen, shopkeepers put out their juiciest produce in the hopes of capturing the attention of passers-by; even the crisp scent of freshly-mown grass somehow managed to emanate the street. Severus detested it all.

Scowling as he moved through the people beginning to crowd around the early-morning produce stalls, he kept his head down and eyes averted. If there was any possibility of him not drawing attention to himself, then he would take it. He had never really been a morning person, and holding inane conversations with complete strangers was not his favourite way of waking up properly. His hand automatically moved to cover the spot above the secret pocket in his robes as someone bumped into him. The tiny bottle of potion he had worked so hard on was nestled gently in the folds of one of his handkerchiefs in that pocket, and he did not want it broken.

“Oh, excuse me…”

Severus’ scowl deepened. The small witch who had collided with him shot him a shocked look before stepping away.

“Rude…”

Rolling his eyes, Severus withheld the snarky comment that sprung to mind. _Do not insult potential customers_. It was one of the first and hardest-learned lessons he had been taught when he had opened his apothecary after the war.

Diagon Alley had gone through many changes in the past five years. With many of the shops having been destroyed by rampaging Death Eaters, it opened the Alley up to all new businesses. Severus, of course, had jumped at the opportunity to become his own man, so to speak. This apothecary had been the start to a whole new chapter of his life, in more ways than one.

Keeping his head down, he practically had to elbow his way through the crush of people waiting outside the entrance to the fresh produce market a few doors down. Not one of them seemed to care about him, thankfully, other than when they offered comments on his behaviour. By the time he reached the door to his own store, he was about ready to start throwing curses. The bell jangled much too cheerfully for his liking as he unwarded the door.

Reaching into the folds of his robes, he extracted the tightly-wrapped bottle the second he made it to the register. This was what he would spend most of his day working on, if time and customers allowed. The experiments he had conducted the night before were promising and, with a little more adjustment, the potion – which he had yet to name – would take pride of place on the shelves. Not that the special section of his store was open to just anyone, though. No, he had developed wards that only allowed those who held a particular interest in this line of potions to know that there even was a special section of the store. Flicking his wand towards the front windows, he closed the shades to make sure no curious eyes would see what he was up to.

Crossing over towards the staircase that sat on the opposite wall to the door, he ducked under a hanging vine holding a basket of bat’s wings and stepped up to an unobtrusive spot on the back wall. He did not even pause before stepping through the seemingly solid wall and into the hidden section of the store.

Lit by the brightest permanent magical lights he could conjure, the tiny room was as bright as day. It was nowhere near as large as the store itself, but he had no need to work in this room unless absolutely necessary. The walls were all lined with shelf after shelf of potions of all different sizes and colours. Severus had sorted them into different categories according to their use. His eyes scanned the labels, wondering exactly where he should place the as-yet-unnamed potion.

_Lubricants_  
Ingestibles  
Massage Oils  
Pleasure Enhancers 

Severus paused at this last shelf. Technically, yes, this potion did enhance something. He was not entirely certain that what it enhanced would be what the customers would expect it to enhance, though. Shaking his head, he moved on, running his fingers over the labels as he passed.

_Clothing, Edible_  
Stamina Enhancers  
Reality Alteration  
Fantasy  
Conductors 

Glancing down at the small phial in his hand, Severus knew that ‘Conductors’ was probably the closest he was going to come to labelling this particular potion. Reaching up and behind the rest of the potions sitting on the shelf, he placed the bottle at the back of the shelf to wait until he found himself with some free time to begin fine-tuning it.

His morning passed without incident. Of course, a large cup of strong, black coffee and a sweet pastry mid-morning helped, as it occupied his mouth at a time when the store had been full. It was the mid-afternoon lull that he was waiting for, though. At roughly three o’clock on weekdays, the store seemed to empty of almost everyone. Severus usually resented this change, as it meant that he was not making money, but this day was different. When the bell above the door jingled, signalling that the last of the Fortescue family had finally trailed out, Severus sighed.

The tiny bottle still sat behind the rest of the potions on the ‘Conductors’ shelf. He did not bother locking the door to the store, as he knew that he very rarely got any customers this time of day. Walking back from the secret section of the store, he placed the phial on the worktable he had set up behind the register. Standing and staring at the potion, his mind went back to the previous night.

The sparks had danced over the man’s skin very easily, so he knew that there was no issue with that part of the potion. Even at the higher level of power, they had still bounced and gathered in the places where the potion had pooled on the man’s chest and around his groin. The tingling sensation that had crept down his spine the previous night reappeared as the images flittered through his mind.

_I could test it on myself…_

A sneer immediately tilted his lips at the thought. Of all the ridiculous ideas he could have, experimenting with his own potions was one of the worst. Not only because he definitely was _not_ interested in the kind of lifestyle that went along with the need to use these potions, but also because of the lost revenue. Money was what a lot of his life came down to these days and he much preferred to make it rather than lose it to his own pursuit of pleasure. Shaking his head, he forced his mind back on track.

The potion worked perfectly well, with the one minor exception of it appearing to congeal when it interacted with the semen on the man’s chest. Usually, Severus would not have bothered with trying to correct this kind of reaction. He was not going to be the one cleaning up the mess when his customers used the potion, so why should he bother? However, this potion was different. He had been working on this one little recipe for five years now and there was no way he was going to allow himself to market it if it had any kind of flaw.

_At least finding the needed ingredients for this one will be easy._

Severus was no stranger to a mid-afternoon wank. In fact, he had kind of perfected it, if he did say so himself. In the three o’clock weekday slump, Severus could manage to bring himself to a very satisfactory orgasm, enjoy the comedown, and still make himself presentable by the time the next customer wandered into the store. All he had to do was make sure he could hear the tinkle of the bell on the front door, just in case. Collecting a glass jar, he moved into the back of the store and settled down into his comfortable recliner by the fireplace. He had no need for magazines, or even for Muggle movies. Severus knew what he wanted and had no issues with imagining it.

Leaning back into the soft cushions on the recliner, he ran his hand over his flat stomach. The folds of his robes bunched, but he shoved them aside. Sliding his fingers down and over the front of his black trousers, he began to rub himself, creating the friction he knew he needed with his clothing. Closing his eyes, a woman’s body appeared in his mind’s eye. Or, two very specific parts of a woman’s body. He had always been a breast man. He had never been the type to go for the ridiculously large ones, though. No, two handfuls that he could shove his face in between was more than enough for him. His cock reacted immediately, as he knew it would. He adjusted his grip, running his fingers along the hardening length through the material of his trousers. He would open them soon and conjure some lubricant, but for the moment, he was more than happy just feeling the slight chafe created by the material. Allowing his head to fall back against the chair, he began to lose himself to the sensation.

“…I’ve already told you, Ron, it’s for Draco.”

The bell to the store jangled noisily, causing Severus to jolt upright in the recliner. His heart thudded against his chest as he blinked, trying to force his mind back to reality and away from the imaginary breasts he had been playing with.

“Why can’t he come down here and get them himself, then?”

“He’s busy.”

Severus’ eyes dropped to his half-hard cock. Thankfully, it was still encased within his trousers, but he knew that there would be a tell-tale bulge when he stood.

“But–”

“Oh, just drop it, Ronald, please.”

Severus blinked again. The familiarity of the three voices he could hear in the store hadn’t registered until he heard what sounded exactly like Hermione Granger telling off one of her friends. He let out an involuntary groan. Here he was, sitting in his backroom with his cock in hand and _who_ should walk in but the wizarding world’s heroes. Typical. It was just bloody, fucking typical. Harry fucking Potter and his two hangers-on ruining his life one poorly-timed incident at a time. Shoving himself to his feet, he arranged his robes in a way that he hoped would make his current condition less obvious and stalked out to stand behind the counter.

“Potter!” Potter and the Weasley – who were the only ones visible from the counter – jumped, causing a joyful sneer to cross Severus’ face. “What are you doing here? Do you not have jaywalkers to harass somewhere?”

To Severus’ disappointment, Potter rolled his eyes. “You don’t scare me, Severus.” The fact that Potter had taken to using Severus’ given name grated against his nerves, but he merely curled his top lip in response, waiting for the explanation that he knew must be forthcoming. “Draco sent me. He said that you have the best collection of bat’s spleen and that he needs it for… Well, he didn’t tell me what for, just to come buy some.”

Severus didn’t even bother shaking his head this time. “In the back corner.”

He pointed, hoping that between the two of them, they would be able to figure out that the jars labelled ‘Bat’s Spleen’ actually contained bat’s spleens. Normally, he would have taken them there himself, just to get them out of his store faster but, considering the condition he was currently in, he reasoned that even the two of them could not be thick enough to get lost in a store this small. Honestly, _what_ Draco saw in that child was beyond Severus, but apparently the two of them were happy. He kept his eyes trained on their retreating backs, hoping that they would hurry. As focussed as he was on the two of them, it seemed that he had completely forgotten that Granger had apparently entered the store with them. That is, until she stepped into his line of sight.

Dressed for the warmer weather in a flowing white skirt and a red t-shirt, she stood out in the gloom of the store like a beacon. Severus swallowed hard when his eyes immediately went to the front of that t-shirt, where he could just make out the roundness of her breasts beneath the stretchy material. He found himself thankful that he kept a stool behind the counter, as he automatically sat down when his cock reminded him of exactly what it was the three of them had interrupted. Heat suffused his cheeks as a white-hot anger boiled inside him, fuelled by a jolt of lust as she stood on her toes to reach the top shelf, the t-shirt stretching even further.

“Granger!” he barked. “You are a witch. Use your wand instead of risking pulling my shelves down.”

The anger at himself only increased when she sent him a long look before shrugging and moving further into the store. Apparently whatever lessons he had learned about shopkeeping simply flew out the window when faced with these three. Granger reappeared in his line of sight in the next few seconds, standing in the back corner with Potter and Weasley. They seemed to be discussing something and Severus knew that he really should go and offer whatever assistance he could, especially considering they were actually apparently buying for Draco and not themselves, but he also knew that he wouldn’t. There was not a chance in hell that he would risk embarrassing himself in that way. Instead, he forcefully turned his thoughts to mundane things in an attempt to dampen the heat in his blood.

“Got it!”

Severus jumped, startled out of the inventory list he had been making in his mind. Potter and Weasley were making their way back through the store towards him, their boots thunking loudly on the wooden floor. They moved past the stairs on their way, with Granger following behind them. She, however, paused.

“Uh…”

Severus could see her eyes widening as her gaze flicked from the retreating backs of her friends towards where Severus knew the door to the hidden section of the store stood. He blinked.

_Surely not…_

Granger shook her head, a small frown creasing her brow. She continued on, though, despite looking more and more confused by the second.

“I can return this if it’s not what Draco wants, right?”

Severus’ jaw clenched as his attention was grabbed once again by Potter. “Does it say Bat’s Spleen on the bottle, Potter?”

“Yes, but–”

“Then that will be three Galleons.”

“ _Three_ …?” Potter’s eyes widened. “ _Three Galleons_? You know what, this had better be the spleen of the most magical bloody bat in the entire world… Three bloody Galleons…”

Severus’ top lip curled into a mockery of a smile when Potter finally stopped grumbling and produced the money. He and Weasley turned and exited the store straightaway, leaving Granger lingering by the end of the staircase. The strange tingling sensation trailed down Severus’ spine once again when she glanced back towards the doorway that led to the hidden section. As intriguing as the thought of Hermione Granger having an interest in the types of potions stocked on those shelves was, however, Severus had a rather pressing matter to deal with. Rearranging his robes again, he took a deep breath and stood.

“What do you want, Granger?”

“There’s…”

She paused, her hand waving in the vague direction of the hidden doorway as she turned to face him. A jolt ran through Severus’ chest when she met his eyes, but he put it down to the fact that he was horny and impatient to get back to it. He raised an eyebrow at her, daring her to ask.

“Nothing, I want nothing.”

She turned on her heel and marched out of the store. Severus watched her go, wondering whether she had actually seen what it seemed like she had. He didn’t linger on the thought for long. Making his way back into the back of the store, he relaxed back into his recliner again.

His cock throbbed as he ran his fingers over the material of his trousers. The heat and slight jolt of pain created by the friction helped him along, but it was the breasts that popped into his mind that really did it for him. One hand slipped into his trousers, stroking his cock as the image of a pair of tits clad in lingerie of a very particular shade of red flashed through his mind. He grunted as his hips jerked of their own accord. Mumbling the lubrication charm, he bit down on his bottom lip. 

His free hand clenched on the armrest as he squeezed the tits in his imagination. Soft and pillowy, and clad in that red that stood out so brightly in his mind, they were just perfect. His hips jerked again as he imagined the faceless woman bouncing on his hard cock. She leant forward, pressing her tits into his hands. Severus’ body tensed as pleasure centred on his cock. The imaginary woman’s nipples pressed into his palms through the material of the lingerie and she moaned, bucking on Severus’ hard cock. He had the presence of mind to remember the phial on the table beside him just before he came.

Stroking his cock as he began to orgasm, he held the phial in his other hand. It shook as his body spasmed, but he knew he had to collect it. When he finally finished, he fell back against the cushions, completely spent. The image of the red brassiere began to fade from his mind, dulling the colour so he could pretend that it hadn’t been of that particular shade of red. By the time he slipped into a state of near-unconsciousness, it had faded enough that all he really remembered were the breasts.

*~*

The next day found Severus with two lots of semen to continue his experiments with. He figured that, if he was lucky, this would last him through three or four iterations of the potion, each being tested for the congealing element he had witnessed on the chest of the man two nights before. If not, then he had no problems whatsoever in indulging himself again. For the good of the store and his profits, of course.

There were enough customers in the morning rush to keep him busy and distracted until just after his one o’clock lunch break. As usual, he ate standing at the counter, catching a bite or two between customers. He found himself thankful that he had so much to experiment with by the time three o’clock rolled around, as the rush had left him exhausted. It was unlikely he would be up to creating more for himself to use at this point in time.

Moving the stool back behind his workbench, he settled in to testing out different variations of the potion – which he _still_ had not named – on small sections of semen. The first experiment was just the potion as it already was. Since he had no idea of exactly which ingredient was congealing, he figured that this could be the base. If everything else failed, he could just keep the original potion as it was right now and hope that his customers would not complain about the clean-up. He spread a few drops of the potion onto his work surface and mixed the semen in. It took only a few seconds, but they began reacting the exact same way as they had on the man’s skin.

_That eliminates anything on the skin as a reactionary agent…_

Anything that did not pertain to him and his experiments, Severus ignored. Outside distractions could lead to mistakes, he knew, so being able to just shut it all out was to his advantage. This was one of the very few advantages he had gained working at Hogwarts: the ability to concentrate on his potions without allowing other sounds to distract him. The sounds of footsteps and shouting children had been trying at first, but he had adjusted. It came as a surprise, then, when the jingling of the bell grabbed his attention away from the workspace before him.

“Good afternoon!”

The cheerful voice was jarring after concentrating as intently as he had been. He scowled as he raised his head. Hermione Granger made her way purposefully through his store, weaving around the various tables, shelves, and displays he had set up. Severus could not help noticing that she was dressed much more demurely today, with a white shirt buttoned up almost to her throat. Disappointment stabbed through him, causing him to let out a low growl.

“Why are you here, Granger? I assume that if Draco wanted anything else, he would have sent Potter back, not you.”

“I would assume the same thing,” she replied as she stepped carefully over one of the vines near the base of the staircase. “I am here for my own personal reasons, however.”

With that, she turned her back on him and disappeared through the hidden door. Severus’ skin tingled as he saw how easily the wards let her through. Well, he figured, that answered some lingering questions he had about the previous day. It also brought new ones up, the foremost of which being: _Hermione Granger has an interest in sex potions?_ That question was followed swiftly by a second: _does she expect me to assist her?_

Hardly any of the customers for that part of the store ever wanted Severus’ assistance. Some first-timers had asked him questions over the years in stuttered whispers, with their faces flaming red. No one who knew what they were after ever bothered to ask his opinion, however. He found himself fighting a damnable curiosity over which type of customer Granger would turn out to be. It took him a few minutes to realise that he was sitting waiting for her to exit the room. Scowling even harder, he ducked his head back over his experiments.

How long she stayed in the tiny room, Severus had no real way of knowing. Customers came and went, but he did not see hide nor hair of her. Each time he heard footsteps approaching the counter, he placed a stasis charm over his work, but it was never her. By the time half past four rolled around, he had to figure that she had left the store without him noticing. He stood and stretched muscles that ached from sitting in the one position for too long. When his knee popped, he decided that a walk around the store was in order.

The vine that grew down the staircase and snaked along the wall leading to the hidden room twitched as he came near it. One tiny tendril fluttered near his head, reminding him that he needed to feed the plant. A quick glance out the door told him that there was unlikely to be any other customers for a while, so he strode up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Feeding the plant was never really a hassle, thankfully. As long as he had some spare frozen mice, it was happy. His knee was feeling better from the exercise by the time he made it back down to the store. Wandering slightly aimlessly down the aisles, he didn’t even see the figure exiting the hidden room until it was too late.

“Oh!”

Severus let out a series of expletives as the pointed heel of a shoe struck his foot. Something crashed on the wooden floor and a feminine voice – a _familiar_ one at that – began apologising.

“Granger,” Severus snarled. He placed a hand on the shelf beside him for balance as he rubbed the top of his abused foot. “What are you about?”

“I am so sorry, really. I didn’t know you were there. I was just – that is…” She paused to clear her throat. “That is an incredibly fascinating room you have there. I began exploring the shelves, but I lost track of time, and… Are you alright?”

Severus glanced up. Granger stood against the wall, her hands clenched around what appeared to be one of the bottles from inside the hidden room. Her face was such a bright red that he was forcibly reminded of the t-shirt she had worn the previous day. His skin tingled again, feeling almost as though he were sunburnt. Ignoring it, he straightened so he towered over her.

“Do you wish to make a purchase, Miss Granger?”

“I, uh…” If possible, her face turned an even deeper shade of red before she, too, straightened to her full height. “Yes, yes I do.”

The determined jut of her jaw as she stepped over to the counter would have amused Severus at any other time. He followed her to the counter, trying to hide the limp she had caused as his foot throbbed. The purchase she made was tame, considering what he had for sale in that room; just one bottle of flavoured lubricant. Severus kept his opinions to himself, however. He cocked an eyebrow at her when she simply stood at the counter, glancing between him and the room.

“Yes?”

“How… No, it’s nothing.”

She scuttled out, clutching her tightly-wrapped purchase to her chest. Severus shook his head and hobbled to the backroom to see if he could scrounge up a pain balm to rub on his foot.

*~*

Over the next week, Severus had more of these encounters with Granger than he had ever expected. She would come in during his slow hour, spend an inordinate amount of time in the hidden room, then purchase something small and make good her escape. They rarely exchanged more than the niceties and, for the most part, this suited Severus very well. If his fantasies featured bright red lacy brassieres, well, he took it in his stride. It meant nothing beyond that it was a colour he had seen when he had been in the mood and his mind now associated it with… Well. At least this new obsession of his meant that he had more than enough materials to test the potion against.

The eighth day found Severus perched on the stool behind his worktable again. He had tested the bloody potion with numerous ingredients, none of which had been able to prevent the congealing when the potion came into contact with semen. He stared down at his worktable, his hands clenched on the sides.

“Is there a problem?”

Severus jumped. He had not even heard the bell jangling as she entered the store this time.

“Granger, I swear–”

“Hermione.”

“–that… What?”

“Look, Professor, I am nearly twenty-four years old. That is too old for you to be still referring to me by my surname. My name is Hermione.”

Severus frowned. He, of course, knew what her blasted name was; he just didn’t care. Unclenching his hands from the worktable, he pushed away to he could stand in front of the register.

“Did you wish to make a purchase?”

“I, uh… No. No, not yet. I’ve only just arrived.”

“Then why are you bothering me?”

She sighed. “Well, I’ve seen you working on this exact same potion every single time I have been in the store. I was just wondering whether you might want a second set of eyes?”

Severus’ expression had not changed since he had moved to the register. Still frowning down at her, he just stared silently, willing her to come to the conclusion that she had just made an incredibly stupid suggestion on her own. When all she did was stare back at him, that determined jut to her jaw again, he huffed out a breath through his nose.

“What exactly makes you think that you could _possibly_ do a better job than I in fixing what needs to be fixed with this potion?”

To his surprise, she crossed her arms over her chest and held her ground. “One of the things you taught us in potions was that even the best potioneer sometimes needs a second opinion, especially if they are stuck. As with most things in life, having a fresh set of eyes look over the problem may be of use.”

Severus’ frown deepened. Instead of answering, though, he ran his eyes over her again. He had not heard much about what she was up to these days, as he had begun avoiding the gossip columns when they had been printing articles about himself during the aftermath of the war. She did not seem to have changed much, though. The jut of her jaw every time he challenged her had not changed, neither had the slightly repressed vibe she gave off, despite Severus knowing that she could not be as vanilla as she appeared. Her cheeks turned ruddy when he met her eyes.

“You wish to take a look at the potion I am experimenting with.” It was not a question. “Tell me, Miss Granger–” he had to hold back a triumphant smile when she sighed “–what is it you do for work?”

“I don’t see how what I do for work makes any difference here,” she began, her shoulders straightening and her brows drawing downwards slightly.

Severus rolled his eyes. He had thought her intelligent at one point.

“Think, girl! Do you believe that I would allow a barmaid, or a cashier to come anywhere near a potion I was working on?”

This time he did allow a smile to cross his face at her obvious indignation over his assessment of her current employment. When her eyes widened and she puffed up for a few seconds, Severus expected an explosion. She got hold of herself fairly quickly, however.

“I am actually assisting Fred, George, and Ron in the joke shop. I am _not_ a cashier, however. I help them with the trickier potions and enchantments they need to create.”

Something strange flittered down Severus’ spine at the mention of Granger’s relationship with the Weasley family. He ignored it, though.

“You create potions for your boyfriend and his brothers to use in toys and pranks.”

He kept his voice flat. The kind of work she did was actually rather impressive. Severus had admired the work the Weasley twins had put into some of the potions they had used when the store first opened, despite them being used in his classes. Admiration for her work – or theirs, for that matter – did not lead him to want to show her the one potion he had put so much effort into over the past five years, though. He almost smiled again when she bristled.

“Fine. Be stubborn. I was only offering to help.”

She left the store that day without purchasing anything. She also did not return the following day. Severus scowled when he found himself actually watching for her to enter at three o’clock.

“Bloody, fucking useless…”

He sighed. This was not a habit he wished to take up. He had never fallen into the trap of developing a routine around a certain customer’s schedule and he refused to do it now. Shoving himself to his feet, he stalked into the back room and threw himself down onto the recliner.

The image of the red lace-clad breasts came to him more easily than ever that day. He rubbed his hand against the front of his trousers, using the slight shock of pain at his pace as fuel for the emotions rushing through him. The red colour of the brassiere seemed to enhance as anger at himself for being unable to stop picturing that particular colour increased. His hand sped up as his cock hardened, creating both heat and friction. The pain of the material rubbing against his cock without any lubrication seemed almost a way to punish himself for this one weakness.

Yes, that was it. He would punish himself. Pushing his fingers harder into the material, he now began to enjoy the pain and heat. The chafing would be a reminder to not fall into that sort of trap again. This was the very last time he would picture that particular colour, so he enjoyed it. His imaginary hands pushed the tits together, the pale skin bulging up and over the cups. His stomach muscles clenched as he panted. His pace increased again, the pain now approaching unbearable levels. When he finally reached orgasm, he let out an elongated groan of combined pain and pleasure. His head fell back against the recliner as he panted.

A sharp shock of pain when he moved was what drew him out of his stupor. His trousers were soaked in drying ejaculate and his cock throbbed where his fingers had rubbed, and not in a good way. Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he cast cleansing charms over himself, then very gingerly opened the fly of his trousers.

“Fucking idiot.”

That was it. It was over. He would not allow himself to be distracted in that way again. Not only had he almost done himself an injury, but he had also wasted a valuable ingredient in pursuit of… What? Pleasure? Punishment? He sighed. It was a one-off thing. It was out of his system now and he could refocus on what was important.

He Summoned the same pain balm he had rubbed onto his foot the previous week and massaged it into his aching flesh. The sensation of his hand running smoothly over his cock did not even have the slightest effect on him, indicating just how much pain the chafing of the material had caused. Once he was satisfied that he would do not more damage when walking, he buttoned up and moved back out into the store. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention when he stepped up to his worktable.

“Have you hurt yourself? You’re limping.”

Severus’ nerves twitched at the sound of her voice. “I am fine.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

His eyebrow lifted as he turned to face her. “You are sorry that I am fine?”

Standing just outside the hidden doorway with her ridiculous high-buttoned shirt on, Granger’s lips twitched. “No, I’m sorry that I asked. You’ve made it clear that you don’t want me asking you questions.”

With that, she stepped through the doorway. Severus shook his head. Glancing down as he took another step, he realised that he _had_ gained a rather noticeable limp. He sighed.

“Granger,” he barked.

“Hermione,” came the response from the hidden room.

Severus scowled as he limped over to the doorway. Standing on her toes in front of the edible clothing section, Granger’s shirt rode up her back as she reached for the top shelf, exposing a sliver of skin.

“How are these made?”

Severus jerked his gaze from her back as she turned. “You just finished saying that you know I do not like to be asked questions.”

“Yes, but how else am I to find out? I have studied the subject comprehensively, but none of the books I have found will tell me how magic edible clothing is made. I’ve discovered more about the Muggle way than I ever wanted to know, but these–” she paused to hold up a pair of kickers in an intricate lace pattern “–are different to anything the Muggles can come up with.”

The knickers flopped side-to-side as she waved them before her. It was true: the magical method of creating edible clothing was different to that of the Muggle way. Specifically, the softening and preserving charms that made them nearly indistinguishable from normal clothing. Not that he was just going to tell her that. Crossing his arms in front of him, he levelled her with his best ‘I do not believe you just asked me that’ look.

“Were you aware when you first stepped into this room last week that it had charms placed on it so that only people with an interest in sex potions could even detect its presence?”

She frowned. “Of course.”

Well. That threw him off-balance. Shifting his weight, he tried again.

“And yet, you still entered.”

“Yes,” she responded slowly, sounding as though she thought he had lost his mind. “I have an interest in how the potions are made. Due to my work with Wheezes.”

Severus’ brows drew down so far he could almost count the hairs. “So, you are here to steal my secrets, then? I had thought better of the Weasley clan than that.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” The kickers went flying as she threw her hands in the air. “I first came in here with Harry and Ron, remember? When I walked past this room, the wall shimmered, but neither Harry nor Ron seemed to notice. I looked the phenomenon up in one of my books, and it suggested that you could have hidden a room behind a ward. I came back at the same time the next day and was able to just walk through the wall. It is not _my_ fault if your charms are defective!” She made to stalk past him, but stopped herself. Stooping, she retrieved the knickers from the floor. “I believe I may purchase these, if you please.”

*~*

The next fortnight was incredibly frustrating for Severus. Not only because he made little progress on preventing the congealing effect the potion had when it came into contact with semen, but also because he could not seem to get a certain person out of his mind.

She had not returned to the store in those two weeks. Severus told himself that he was glad. He now had his afternoons free again to experiment with the potion and have a leisurely wank in order to gain the needed ingredients for said experimentation. At least he had not had the need to contact Prudence and her husband again, he figured. He was producing more than enough to keep his experiments going with his once-every-two-days sessions in the recliner. Annoyance flittered through him, then, when the bell jangled as he was standing staring at the latest of his tests congealing before his eyes.

“I give up!” Severus’ head snapped up at the sound of her voice. “I have tried every single method I know to discover what it is you have done to make these bloody things so realistic and all of them have failed.”

The underwear Granger had purchased from him landed on the counter, now with only the crotch intact. She placed her hands flat on the counter beside them and glared at him.

“Will you teach me how to do this?” She huffed out a sigh that sounded just as frustrated as Severus felt when he merely cocked an eyebrow at her. “Please, Professor? I swear I will even give you credit and some of the profit if I manage to create what I want to use the charms and method for.”

“I am no longer a Professor, Granger.”

“And my name is Hermione.”

He growled, his top lip curling. He had to admire her determination, if nothing else.

“Fine, _Hermione_ ,” he practically snarled as he pushed away from his worktable. “You wish me to teach you the method I use to create edible underwear?”

The pink tinge that entered her cheeks was fascinating. “Well, _I_ won’t be using it for underwear, but yes. Knowing how to create such realistic material that can be eaten as well as worn would be useful, especially in my line of work. I’ll even buy whichever of your ingredients I use, so you won’t be out of pocket.”

Severus stood and stared at her for a long moment. An expression of anticipation brightened her eyes as she stared right back at him, unblinking. When the moment dragged on a touch too long with neither of them moving, Severus swore.

“You are determined?”

“If you don’t teach me, I will keep coming back and asking.”

He huffed a breath out his nose. “Fine, just to be rid of you.” He had to hold up a hand to halt her thanks. “You have your afternoons free of a weekday?”

“Oh, yes. Most of my work is done early morning, so my day ends at half past two.”

“Be here promptly at three each day. If you are late, I shall assume you are not coming.”

“That will be no problem, I swear!” She grabbed the remaining crotch of the underwear as she pushed away from the counter. “I will see you at three tomorrow.”

Turning on her heel, she marched out of the store, the underwear swinging by her side. That night as Severus lay in bed, the red brassiere returned to his fantasy.

*~*

“Good afternoon, Severus!”

Severus immediately began to regret agreeing to the lessons the second she arrived the next afternoon. Considering he had been interacting with her over the past three weeks on a semi-regular basis, he had actually managed to forget just how enthusiastic she could be about learning. He glanced up to see her wearing her high-necked shirt again.

“Is that what you work in?”

Her head dropped so she could look at herself. “Yes, why? It’s comfortable.”

Severus shook his head. At least it didn’t have long sleeves that he would have to remind her to roll up.

“Nothing. You are prepared to begin?”

“Of course.” She held up a suitcase as she strode across the store to stand before the counter. “Where do you want me working?”

He had cleared the opposite end of his worktable the previous night in preparation. His own experiment on the potion was still set up at his regular end, but he had cleared everything that he did not have immediate need of, leaving her with more than enough room to set up her own equipment. Placing a stasis charm over his own work, he waved a hand towards the table.

“Since you are no longer a student, I have a rather different set of instructions for you. I expect each and every one of them to be followed, do you understand me?”

“Of course,” she responded again.

Her attention was now completely on setting up her equipment. Severus allowed her the freedom to set things up in the way she was used to. Each potioneer had a very specific way of setting up their own equipment and Severus was not going to interrupt that process. He used the time to run his eyes over both her and her equipment. She had tied her unruly hair back, but it still frizzed out in many directions. The tingle that had run down his spine during his first encounters with her returned as he watched her move, but he ignored it.

Her equipment was actually of much more interest to him. She pulled a collapsible pewter cauldron, a few unbreakable beakers, a silver knife, and a collection of measuring instruments from the suitcase. They had all clearly been used many times over, giving credence to her assertion of being the potioneer for Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. They were all very well cared for, though, which almost had Severus smiling. No matter how long it had been since he was her Professor, he would take full credit for how well she looked after her equipment.

“Alright,” she muttered after a few minutes. She checked over what she had laid out in front of her before raising her head and meeting his eyes. “What are your different instructions?”

Severus stepped out from behind his own side of the table so he could walk slowly in front of her. He paused and clasped his hands behind his back, more for dramatic effect than anything else.

“Since you are now an adult, you are not to be given the instructions on how to make this material straight out. I shall allow you access to my store of ingredients and you shall work it out for yourself.”

Her eyes narrowed. “So, basically what you are telling me is that I will still be stumbling around in the dark, but with you beside me to mock me along the way?”

Severus’ head cocked to the side. “As enjoyable as I am sure I would find that, no. I have books that you would not have access to anywhere else. They come from both my own personal collection and the Malfoy library. Lucius ever so kindly gave away some of the tomes on the Ministry’s insistence. I shall point you in the right direction and you shall study.”

Severus could have sworn that she looked almost disappointed. Still, there was no outright complaints. She got to work the second he granted her access to the small library he kept at the shop.

He soon discovered that he found working beside someone… well, it wasn’t enjoyable so much as pleasant. His was a solitary life these days – by his own wishes – but, as it turned out, he missed the company having someone else in the same room as him while he worked provided. The sound of another’s soft breaths, the scratching of a quill on parchment; even the occasional frustrated little sounds she made when she hit a dead end. They worked together in almost complete silence, with the exception of when Severus had to serve customers, until five, when he usually shut up shop.

“How did you enjoy your first ‘lesson’?” He watched as she stretched her hands above her head. “Did it live up to your expectations?”

A bright gleam entered her eyes when she looked up at him. “Those books are incredibly fascinating! I didn’t expect to have to research the method myself, you are correct, but I am grateful for the opportunity. This is an interesting topic to research and I never would have thought to look half of these methods up on my own, so I feel I must thank you.”

Severus inclined his head before excusing himself to tidy the shop for the next morning. He could hear her returning her equipment to the suitcase, then heard the sound of her footsteps crossing to the back room to return the books she had been studying from. By the time Severus made it back to the counter, she was packed and ready to leave.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at three?”

“Indeed.”

“Goodnight, then!”

With a cheerful wave, she exited the store. Severus took a deep breath. He was working with Hermione Granger. This would take a little adjusting to.

It seemed that he was able to adjust fairly quickly, though. By the fifth day of her ‘lessons’, Severus had even unbent enough to carry on a conversation as they worked.

“Ron and I split three years ago, you know, but Rita Skeeter just _will not_ let it go,” she grumbled that Friday afternoon. “That woman, I swear… Ron is _happy_ with Alicia. They have much more in common than he and I ever did, so I don’t see why it’s such a big thing with her. The marriage next year will be…”

Severus glanced up from his own experiment when she trailed off. Sitting at the opposite end of the worktable, she had one of the larger tomes floating in front of her and a piece of parchment and quill on the table. The parchment and quill were no longer idle, though. Her eyes widened as she scribbled down passage after passage from the book. Curious, Severus leant over to read the title.

_Bláth’s Guide to Rare Ingredients._

He blinked as surprise flittered through him. It had taken him months to discover the recipe that he was certain she was copying out. Returning to his experiment, he shook his head. It was possible that their little ‘lessons’ would end much sooner than he had anticipated.

“This is it, isn’t it?”

He almost jumped when the piece of parchment containing the recipe was practically shoved under his nose. “You know where the storeroom is,” he informed her as he took a step backwards. “Why not find out?”

She worked incredibly quickly. Silently, as well, as it turned out. Severus kept glancing up from his own potion to watch as her hands flew across the table, collecting ingredients, making notes, and stirring the cauldron. The fact that she swore beneath her breath a number of times sent amusement through Severus; this was one of the harder potions that he had encountered, for all its short creation time. When he realised that he was spending more time watching her than working on his own potion, he let out a few choice words of his own. He may have snapped at a few customers more than was absolutely necessary after that realisation. He found himself rather grateful when five o’clock rolled around.

“Is it almost ready to sit?”

He was fully aware that this particular recipe required one full week of low simmering in its cauldron. His voice was low, but it seemed that he had still startled her.

“I, um… Yes, I believe it is.” A sly look entered her eyes as she glanced up at him. “Since you seem to have the method memorised, does that mean that I did discover the correct recipe? I assume you would not want me wasting your ingredients on something that would be useless to the both of us.”

Severus did her the courtesy of acknowledging that she was correct with a slight bow of his head. “Indeed. I feel I must congratulate you. It took me much longer to discover that book.”

The smile she shot him sent the same tingle down his spine that he had been feeling when he was around her. Again, he ignored it. He began moving around the store, closing up.

“I take it I shall not see you for another week now?”

“Oh.” He could have sworn that there was a touch of disappointment to her voice. “I was actually wondering… Well, I was wondering whether you would allow me to at least sit in and watch as you run those tests on that potion you’ve been working on for so long?”

Severus froze in the middle of lowering the shades on the opposite side of the store. The old over-protective sensation rushed back into his chest at the mere thought of allowing anyone else access to his potion. There was something else mixed in with it this time, however. He allowed the shade to drop down before stepping to the end of the aisle so he could see her. Standing behind the counter, she had her hands placed flat and her elbows locked, creating the illusion that she was much taller than in reality. She offered him a hopeful smile when she caught him staring.

“I’ll be no trouble, I swear. I’ll even sit back here at my spot, rather than hovering, or anything like that. All I want is a chance to learn more.”

Nerves. That was the sensation mixed in with his reluctance to show anyone else his potion. She made him nervous. Still, despite this revelation, he found himself nodding.

“Alright. If you promise to not touch anything, I shall allow you to watch. You must come check on your own potion, anyway.”

*~*

Severus’ nerves jangled just as much as the bell above the door that coming Monday. Every single time the blasted door opened, he glanced up in the hopes that it would be her. There was also a decent amount of dread mixed in with that hope, however. His nerves over the coming week had placed him in the unusual position of being unable to perform the entire weekend. Not only had this turn of events left him frustrated and short-tempered, but also short when it came to one very particular ingredient needed to continue his experiments. It seemed that, if he was to continue his experiments, he may have to pay another visit to Prudence and her husband, and there was no way he could manage that before she arrived at three.

“Good afternoon, Severus!”

Severus winced. He’d been so distracted by his worries about the coming afternoon that it had turned to the afternoon without him realising it. He sighed.

“Good afternoon.”

It seemed she immediately picked up on whatever was showing on his face, as she stepped up to the counter, concern clear in her expression. “What’s happened? Is something wrong?”

Scowling, he shoved all unnecessary emotions to the back of his mind. “Nothing is wrong, no. I do have to confess to you that you cannot sit in on my experiments this afternoon, however.”

“Oh.” Her face fell. “Oh. I see. I’ll just check on my own and be going, then.”

Disappointment shot through him, but he ignored it. He watched her closely as she moved, that ridiculous shirt hitching up her back whenever she reached upwards. His jaw clenched when she completed her examination of the cauldron and turned to face him.

“May I ask why you changed your mind?” There were two spots of colour high on her cheeks that Severus found incredibly fascinating. “I thought that because you had agreed to allow me to sit in, that implied a certain level of trust in me.”

 _Trust_. Severus trusted no one. He never had; not really. He sighed.

“It has nothing to do with trust. I simply have run out of a crucial ingredient.”

“Is that all? I could help there.”

He swallowed hard before letting out an amused sound. “No, I believe you could not.”

She spread her hands to her sides in an almost challenging gesture. “Try me.”

Severus cocked an eyebrow at her. “I do not believe that you would be prepared to do what it took to retrieve a sample of this particular ingredient.”

“Really? Well…” She straightened up to her full height and raised her chin. “ _I_ believe that you underestimate me. You always have and I don’t think that that will ever change.”

The clear challenge to both her voice and posture had the hairs on the back of Severus’ neck standing on end. There was a touch of defiance to her as well. It had always been there; there was no questioning that. This time it was different, however. _This_ time, Severus was free to meet that challenge and defiance head-on. He stepped back and gestured towards the worktable.

“I have been working on this potion for the past five years. It is only recently that I have managed to find a recipe that causes the potion to do what I wish of it, though.”

“And what is that?”

“It conducts static electricity.”

“There’s already potions for that, you know.”

He raised an eyebrow at her to shut her up. “I am aware. However, none of those potions are for use in the bedroom. This particular potion is spread on the skin and, when a low-powered _Fulgora_ is cast on the person, it conducts the sparks over the skin. It prevents them from causing any kind of damage, while still allowing the recipient to feel the full effect of the spell.”

“Ohh…” She stepped closer, bending over to take a look at the one little phial Severus kept on the table. “That is genius! Painful, but genius all the same. So, what’s the problem? It appears as though the potion is complete.”

Severus allowed himself a small smile. “In the one test on a human subject, the potion worked beautifully. The aftermath, however, was too messy for my liking. It seems that, when mixed with semen, the potion congeals.”

“That sounds disgusting,” she murmured as she circled the table, obviously concentrating on one of the items there. “What’s the ingredient you’ve run out of, then?”

Severus merely stood and watched her in silence. It took a while for her to stop circling the worktable and a few seconds longer before she looked up at him. Severus tilted his head to the side and raised one eyebrow.

“Oh!” A blush of such a deep red crept up her face that, if he had not known any better, Severus would have sworn she was having some kind of episode. “Oh, my gosh.”

Her hand flew up to cover her mouth as she stared at him. Amusement bubbled inside him, but he held it back.

“As I said, you would not be willing to do what is needed to procure a sample of this ingredient.”

Disappointment stabbed through him again, causing him to frown slightly. He swallowed, choosing to ignore the fact that some tiny part of him may be interested in the idea.

“I…”

Severus refocussed on her again. She stood before him, her shoulders squared and back ramrod straight, but not meeting his eyes.

“What if I was willing?”

Severus’ breath left him in a rush. The sensation of seemingly all his blood flowing south had him reconsidering just how large a part of him would be interested in the idea of her ‘help’.

“As a, you know, purely… ah… business arrangement. A colleague helping out a colleague sort of thing.”

“That is the most unusual proposition I have ever received.”

Her head snapped up. Her face was still bright red, but that determined jut to her jaw had returned.

“Is that a yes?”

Severus nodded without even thinking about it. He led her to the back room without saying a word, feeling as though his entire body was buzzing. She stood before him when he sat down in the recliner, her hands clenching by her sides. It was that sight that caused him to finally speak.

“I will not hold you to this, Miss Granger. I have other methods of obtaining–”

“No, I – it’s fine. It’s just a hand job, right? It’s not like I haven’t done much worse with guys I’ve known for much less time.”

With that, she fell to her knees before him. Severus’ chest tightened at the thought of her kneeling like that in front of some random sleaze in a club. His breath caught when she ran her hands up his thighs.

“Relax. This will go much easier if you just let me do all the work.”

“I–” He shifted, already deciding that it was he that needed to be told that he could opt out of this at any point in time.

“Relax, Severus.” She glanced up to meet his eyes as she leant in over his lap. “Let me help you…”

He was already fully erect when she drew him out of his trousers. His hands clenched on the arms of the recliner when she grinned up at him. The first touch of her fingers on the head of his cock sent a jolt straight through him. He gasped at the sensation, his hands clenching tighter.

Pleasure rocked through him at the mere thought of having a woman’s hand on him. There was a slight problem, however. She was soft and gentle, her hand running slowly over his cock as though she were afraid of hurting him. It was… nice. Severus grunted.

“Harder.”

She raised her eyes to meet his gaze. Nothing was said, but she seemed to understand him. Adjusting her position, she gripped him tighter, watching for his reaction. With the added friction, her grip was almost just right. He thrust his hips upwards.

“Better? Good…” She licked her lips as she watched his face. “That’s right, Severus… That’s right… Yes…” She chuckled when his hips jerked again. “There we go… Feels good, right? You love having someone else’s hand on your cock?”

His mouth opened as he panted, listening to her speak. “I–”

“Oh, I know, I know… Don’t think, just react… Let me help you…”

Severus groaned. His fingers twitched with the need to reach down and pull her into his lap. He wanted her. Not just because she currently had his cock in her hand, either. He wanted to have her on his cock, he wanted to be able to reach up and squeeze those perfect tits; to bury his face in between them as he came.

“Yes, Severus, very good… You’re almost there; I can tell.”

She twisted her hand as she came to the head of his cock. Severus’ eyes closed as he felt his balls drawing up. He was unable to let out any sound beyond a harsh cry, but it seemed Hermione didn’t need much warning.

“Yes, Severus, very good… Very good…”

His skin tingled with the praise as he came, his cock spasming over and over into the glass jar she had somehow managed to collect just in time. She continued the motion of her hand, milking him for everything he had to give. Even after he was spent, she continued to stroke him, sending delightful shivers through him as her fingers brushed over his now overly-sensitive skin.

“You did so well, Severus, so well.” The sensation of a cleansing charm washing over him nearly dragged Severus out of his post-orgasm mindlessness, but she hushed him. “It’s alright. Stay here and recover. You’re safe here.”

He could sense that he had been tipped backwards in the recliner, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Finally taking her advice, he relaxed.

*~*

“Is Severus alright?”

“Oh, he’s fine. Just distracted out the back. I’m a friend of his.”

“Oh, well, in that case, it’s nice of you to help him. I always think he works too hard on his own here.”

Severus jerked awake and sat bolt upright. His heart raced as he scrambled to sit up properly in the reclined chair. He didn’t know just how long he had been asleep for, but the idea that he had actually fallen asleep during the middle of a workday did not sit well with him.

“Granger,” he snarled as he made it up and out of the chair.

She had tucked him back into his trousers and rebuttoned his fly, then left him to fall asleep in the recliner. Huffing out a breath to try to calm his racing heart, he stalked out into the shopfront.

“What in the fu–”

“Oh, Severus! Miss Granger here was just telling me that you were a little preoccupied, so you asked her for some help.”

Severus’ mouth shut with an audible _clack_. If the couple of beats his heart had just skipped were any indication, then he highly doubted that he would ever be able to hear the word ‘help’ associated with ‘Miss Granger’ again without flashing back to those few moments when… He cleared his throat as heat rushed to his cheeks.

“Yes, Mrs. Slater,” he ground out through teeth that refused to unclench. “Miss Granger here is incredibly _helpful_.”

Old Mrs. Slater offered Severus up a smile before turning to totter out of the store. He did some quick calculations in his mind as he waited for her to leave. She only ever entered the store in the final half hour before close, which meant that, at best, it was half past four. He turned his gaze to Granger the second the door closed.

“Well,” she began cheerfully before Severus could open his mouth. “That went incredibly well, don’t you think?”

His eyes narrowed. “‘ _Well_ ’?”

“Look, Severus, before you start, I just… You looked so peaceful. I’ve never seen you look so relaxed before and I thought… Well, to be frank, you trusted me with your cock, why wouldn’t you trust me with your cash register? The transactions have all been recorded, if you want to check them.”

He merely stood and stared at her. Was it possible that she truly did not see what they had just done as anything beyond a business transaction? The thought caught him off-guard. Shaking his head at himself, he refocussed.

“You have the…?”

“Oh, yes. It’s in a bottle on the worktable.”

“In that case, Miss Granger, you may go.”

There was no need for her to stay any longer that day. Besides that, Severus found himself in dire need of some space from her. He needed to straighten his head out and the only way to do that was alone.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

His head dipped in a nod before he even registered her question. “Indeed.”

There was no red brassiere in his dreams that night. When he lay down in his bed, he stared up at the ceiling for a long time, running over the day in his mind. When he thought about how she had listened to his instructions – how she had worked him – he was simply amazed. But then, he questioned, had it truly been him in charge? She had taken the initiative; for the most part, she had also controlled the pressure on him. She had encouraged him, and practically talked him into orgasm. And he had _liked_ it. He drifted off to sleep with all kinds of confusing things running through his mind.

That confusion hadn’t cleared by the time three o’clock arrived the next afternoon. He had been glancing at the clock on the wall what seemed to be every few minutes since nine, willing it to both move faster and to slow down. He wasn’t even pretending to pay attention to his work when she finally entered the store.

“Good afternoon, Severus!”

He inclined his head instead of responding verbally. Mentally cursing himself for trying to discern whether there was something different about her tone, he set to work. As she had promised, she sat at the end of the table, not saying a word, or interfering at all. She sat so quietly that he would never have known she was there if he was not already so focussed on her that he almost messed up a couple of times. Severus found himself disappointed.

“Come here,” he barked when he had finished the first of the experiments. “See the reaction?”

She moved to stand to his right, watching as the potion congealed once again. “That is the strangest thing. You obviously do not know what the problem is?”

“Clearly not.”

“Adding something like nightshade would affect the original potion too much, wouldn’t it?”

Severus rolled his eyes. He was on much steadier ground with her asking him questions.

“Of course it would.” He felt as though the _stupid girl_ he had been going to end the sentence with was clear enough in his tone when she huffed. “I have tried all kinds of poisons to try to thin the solution out. And, before you ask, the potion first congealed like this on someone else, so it has nothing to do with _me_.”

The way she raised her hands in a defensive gesture told him that that had been going to be her next question. They both fell silent for a few minutes.

“Semen is made up the same components no matter who it comes from, with some minor adjustment for things like hydration levels, right? So, have you considered factors that affect your ingredients before you receive them? The ones in the potion, I mean.”

“Excuse me?”

“Think about it. Potions are very delicate and reactionary, right? And, judging by the size of the bottle of the original potion you have on the table here, you do not need to use much of it in order for it to do its job. Within that tiny amount of fluid, there is a lot of different chemicals. Could it be possible for something to enter one of the ingredients before you receive it that could be reacting poorly when it encounters the semen? Even if it is just reacting to the combined heat of the skin and the seminal fluid itself, or–”

“Or if some form of gelatine is entering the mixture?”

She straightened and clapped her hands together, holding them in front of her, the fingers pointing towards him. “Yes! Gelatine reacts with changing temperatures. That’s why soup congeals in the fridge overnight.”

Severus nodded as his mind raced. Which of the ingredients could it be? He knew that gelatine was produced when certain parts of animals were boiled, so… His eyes closed automatically as it occurred to him.

“Boomslang skin.”

Honestly, how could he have been so dense? _Of course_ it was the boomslang skin! He had been adding heated semen to his experiments, as that was the way the potion would encounter it. If the amount of gelatine in the boomslang skin was strong enough, then it would begin the process of congealing as soon as the semen began to cool, which was fairly quickly, as there simply was not enough of it to keep a constant temperature. And temperature may very well be one way to solve the problem…

“There’s boomslang skin in the potion?”

Severus drew in a sharp breath. As he had been lost in thought, he had almost forgotten that he wasn’t alone. He pursed his lips as frustration at his own stupidity flowed through him.

“Not much, but yes. As you pointed out, even the tiny amount of skin that is in this amount of potion has an effect on the overall composition. Other than the intended effect – the smoothing out of the rest of the potion – the gelatine contained within the skin must be enough for it to react to temperature changes.”

“So, all you need to do is thin the potion out?”

Severus’ eyes flicked between her and the remains of the congealed potion on the worktable. There was such a spark in her eyes that he couldn’t help the slight huff of amusement he gave in response.

“Yes, ‘all’ I need to do is thin it out. If there is more surface of the potion, then that should eliminate the effects of the gelatine in the skin.”

She hummed in response. Severus watched her out of the corner of his eye as he cleaned the surface of the worktable. There was something about her that he couldn’t quite place his finger on; something different to when she had been his student. His eyes flicked over to the clock, then widened when he saw that it was past five already.

“Well, that appears to be that for the day.”

He flicked his wand over towards the shades instead of physically lowering them. When he turned back towards the worktable, it was to see Hermione with her hands placed flat on the surface and her elbows locked. She was watching him with a gleam to her eyes that he could not quite place.

“I don’t suppose you need any… _other_ ingredients, Severus?”

He blinked at her as that damnable tingle ran down his spine again. “You…”

“I’m offering, yes. Only if you want to, of course.”

She grinned at him as she pushed off the table, her shoes hitting the floor with a _clack_. Without even thinking about it, Severus ran his eyes over her. Still dressed in that ridiculous high-necked button-up shirt, she resembled a prim and proper librarian. The gleam in her eyes changed that look dramatically, however. She let out a low chuckle when Severus licked his lips.

“Come on, then.”

Severus followed her into the back room, his heart rate speeding up at the mere thought of what they were about to do. He found her standing in front of the recliner, a small smile on her lips.

“Sit.”

A shiver went straight through Severus at the tone of command to her voice. He resisted a little, however, cocking an eyebrow at her.

“Is that an order?”

She smiled. “Sit, Severus. Let me help you to relax.”

This time, the shiver that rocked through him caused his skin to pimple. He licked his lips again as he stepped up to her. When she placed a hand on his chest, he did not resist being pushed back into the recliner.

“Just relax, Severus,” she murmured as she leant over him, her hands placed either side of him on the armrests. “Let me help you.”

His mouth opened in surprise when she slithered down his body to mouth over his cock. She chuckled when his breath hissed.

“You like that?”

The vibrations of her voice had his cock beginning to harden already. “Yes… Yes…”

“Mmm, good…” She opened her mouth and pressed her lips to the front of his trousers, creating a heated patch over his cock. “Because I want to do so much more than this.”

Severus’ hands clenched on the armrests as she huffed out another breath. The heat created added to the pleasure already pooling in him, but it wasn’t enough. Heat was all well and good, but it was friction he needed. He shifted his hips a little, pressing up and into her mouth. She let out another vibrating chuckle over him.

“Eager, are we? Alright, then.”

Severus almost groaned aloud when she stood and stepped away from him. He was silenced, however, when she grinned before moving to straddle him. With the angle of the recliner and the position she had to be in to reach between them, Severus had the perfect view of her breasts. Or, he would have, if that shirt was not concealing them from him. When he felt her fingers brushing over his half-hard cock to undo his fly, he let out a soft moan.

“You _are_ eager tonight. Don’t worry, Severus, I’ll take good care of you.”

His eyes slid shut the second her fingers touched his heated skin. As often as he had been slipping to the back room to have a quick wank over the years he had owned this store, he had to admit that nothing beat having someone else’s hand on him finally. He let out a soft noise and adjusted his position when she muttered a lubrication charm, pushing himself more firmly into her hand.

“Uh-uh, we’ll have none of that.”

Severus’ eyes flew open. Kneeling over him, she smiled as she stroked him, keeping her grip loose.

“There’s no customers to worry about; no need to rush. Just relax, Severus. I’ve got you.”

 _Relax_. That was something he did not do well. Meeting her eyes seemed to change something, however. She appeared so confident, so sure of herself and what they were doing, that Severus had no choice but to obey. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly. A slow smile tilted her lips upwards.

“Yes, that’s it,” she murmured. “Just relax…”

Her hand was loose around him; moving slowly. It was frustrating, but there was also something about the whole experience that had him craving more. His tongue flicked out to wet his lips, causing her smile to widen.

“You like this?”

Biting down on the inside of his lip, Severus nodded. He was unsure whether he was capable of intelligent speech right then.

“Good, good…”

Keeping eye contact with him, she slid her free hand up and into his line of sight. Severus’ breath hitched when she began to slowly run her fingers over her shirt. Starting at the buttons, she traced them down between her breasts, over her stomach, and down towards the waistband of her black trousers. She didn’t stop, though. Her fingers slid easily past the waistband and down further. Severus’ cock twitched in her hand when it became clear to his now slightly fuzzy mind just what was happening.

“Mmm, you like to watch as well… Good…”

With that, she sped her pace. Gripping his cock, she twisted her wrist, sending sensations through him that he had not felt in many years. At the same time, he could see her hand moving in the front of her own trousers. His fingers clenched on the armrests, the desire to touch almost overwhelming. When he finally gave in to it, however, she stopped completely.

“Uh-uh,” she murmured as she leant forward. “Not yet.”

Severus stared up at her in disbelief. “‘Yet’?”

His voice was croaky, causing her to smile. She readjusted her grip on him and began to move again. 

“Oh, you can touch all you want. Just not yet.”

It didn’t take too long before Severus did not care that he wasn’t allowed to touch her. Twisting her wrist and working her thumb over the head of his cock, Hermione was soon driving all thought out of his mind. He kept his eyes open as much as possible, trying to watch as the hand in her trousers moved as well.

“Ohh… Oh, Severus, well done… You are doing so well…” She let out a laugh when his hips jerked. “I – mmm – I know… I know… You want to come, need that release… Hold… Hold on for me…”

Hermione’s head fell forward, her mouth open and panting. Her hips rocked faster and faster, matching the pace of the hand she had on him. As she sped up, Severus began to feel himself losing control. His head swam as he rocked his hips, pressing his cock further into her grip. Still, he kept his eyes on her.

“I–” He cut himself off with a deep moan when her fingers slid over the head of his cock again. “I need…”

“Yes, Severus…” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Yesss…”

Severus’ eyes widened as he saw her hand jerking in her trousers. Her mouth opened, her chin fell towards her chest and she stopped rocking. The little mewling sounds she let out were beyond anything Severus had ever heard before. His own stomach muscles clenched when she gripped him just a little too hard, her nails pressing into the underside of his cock. The sharp shock of pain was all he needed. With a deep groan, he let go. His release soaked into his work shirt and all over her trousers, but he couldn’t care. When she fell forward, Severus caught her.

“Hermione.”

“I didn’t catch it, Severus.”

“We’ll make do.”

Placing his hands on her hips, he settled her down in the recliner with him and cast a cleansing charm. He didn’t recall ever feeling this relaxed, especially in the company of someone else. He was asleep before he could examine the sensation.

*~*

Severus expected the next morning to be awkward. Why should it not be, after all? They awoke side-by-side on the recliner, her hair standing on end and their legs tangled.

“Morning, Severus.”

Her voice was rough with sleep, sending a strange jolt through his chest. He squinted one eye open.

“That it is.”

His tone was gruff, but that did not seem to deter her. Sitting up beside him, she ran her hands through her hair.

“Do you have a shower upstairs?”

Severus nodded. “Up and to the left. First door.”

She hopped off the chair and slipped upstairs without another word. Severus stretched. It had been a long time since he had woken up next to a woman. It had been even longer since said woman had been able to make him feel this… Well, relaxed. His mind flashed back to the previous night at that thought.

It was strange to think that beneath that button-up shirt, there seemed to be a rather self-confident woman. A woman who knew exactly how to work him up and have him a mess in a few short minutes. Severus had never released control over himself like that to anyone before. Sure, he had followed Dumbledore’s orders, but this was something completely different. Hermione – and how strange it was for him to automatically think of her like that – seemed to know just what he wanted. With the exception of that one moment the first time they were together, she had taken whatever control he allowed her over him and run with it. And he _liked_ it. He shook himself out of his thoughts when he heard her footsteps on the stairs again.

“I will see you this afternoon?”

Standing at the bottom of the stairs, she looked immaculate. There were no creases in her clothing, her hair had been tamed – magic, no doubt – and Severus could smell his own soap on her shower-heated skin from where he still sat. Returning the recliner to the upright position, he stood.

“If you are willing to come and assist with the potion, I would be grateful.”

The smile she offered him sent yet another jolt through his chest.

“This afternoon, then.”

That day’s experiments ended in much the same way as the previous. Now that they knew that it was the boomslang skin that needed to be countered, Severus tested the composition of the potion without the skin at all, but it turned clumpy before he even had time to test it against the semen. The gelatine did its job incredibly well, it seemed.

“Damn it,” he snarled as the third experiment began to congeal as well. “This will not work.”

“Yes, it will. We just have to find something that either does the same job, or to replace the boomslang skin with that has a lower gelatine content.”

Severus was prevented from snapping at her that those were the same things when a customer entered the store. He glanced over at the clock when the man finally left with his purchases. He sighed when he saw that it was just before five.

“Enough. I am done for the day.”

Just as he made to stand, Hermione placed a hand on his shoulders. Severus cocked an eyebrow at her, but stayed silent.

“I was wondering whether you would let me make up for, well, wasting precious ingredients last night?”

It took a few seconds for Severus to work out what she was saying. The tingle down his spine returned as he met her eyes.

“What did you have in mind?”

Instead of responding verbally, Hermione grinned. She flicked her wand towards the door and Severus heard the lock click shut. His heart rate rose as she turned to face him.

“Just relax, Severus.” Her hands ran over his shoulders, pressing into the tense muscles. “Just relax and allow me to take care of you.”

Her hands slipped from his shoulders down his chest. They didn’t linger, though. Hermione unbuttoned his fly and drew his limp cock out of his trousers before dropping to her knees before him. His eyes widened when he realised what she was about to do. Before he could even open his mouth to question her actions, she slid her lips over the head of his cock and sucked. Severus’ breath hissed out between his teeth.

“The shades,” he warned her. “Anyone could see.”

She let out a hum, causing him to gasp. “A touch of excitement never hurt anyone.”

Severus bit down on his bottom lip when she drew him into her mouth again. Whether the so-called excitement was for him, or for the people who might see them, he had no idea. When her tongue began to explore all over the head of his cock, however, he found himself not really caring.

Hermione was just as verbal while sucking him off as when she had him in hand. The hums and moans she let out had him hard and aching in a very short amount of time. Her tongue was so rough against the underside of his cock, brushing against the thick vein there. Contrasted with the smoothness as she rolled him around in her mouth, it sent his head spinning. Severus clenched his hands on either side of the worktable, his head bent over as pleasure rocked through him. When she squeezed her hand into his trousers and cupped his balls, he almost lost control.

“Fucking _hell_ …”

He widened his legs as far as they could go while still constrained by his trousers and shifted closer to the edge of the stool, giving her better access. The move pressed his balls into her hand much more firmly, causing him to groan. He never bothered treating himself to such pleasure when he was on his own, mostly because he had gotten used to a quick wank in the back of the store during the lull. Rocking forward into her mouth, however, he knew that he would be craving this kind of attention from now on.

She moaned when he thrust into her mouth, his hips jerking of their own accord. Pulling back, she used her own saliva as lubricant to slide her hand along his cock as she sucked on the head. The tip of her tongue flicked at his slit again and again, sending jolts straight through him. It wasn’t until she brushed her teeth against him that he completely let go. His hips jerked forward, scraping her teeth along the underside of his cock and causing pain to blossom up through his nerves. She pulled off him completely as he began to come, spurting his release into the glass bottle she held before him. Her free hand still massaged his balls, squeezing and rolling them until his muscles began to untense.

“Hermione…”

“Sit back.”

The command in her voice was strong enough that it penetrated even the fog clouding Severus’ mind. He obeyed without thinking.

“Give me your hand.”

His eyes refocussed when she stood before him and straddled one of his thighs. The hand she had grabbed was slid slowly down her shirt. Severus’ eyes fixated on her breasts, his fingers almost twitching with the need to cup them, causing her to smile.

“Not yet.”

She slid his hand down further before lifting off his thigh and sitting down again. Severus’ eyes widened. Heat suffused his hand as she began to rock her hips.

“Bring me to orgasm, Severus. I need release…”

Severus swallowed. The hand she was not rocking on went immediately to the button on her trousers, but was swatted away.

“Not yet.”

He groaned. Yes, he had brought a woman to orgasm before, but never through her clothing.

“Come on, Severus. I need this. I need you.”

Severus’s mind raced as she continued to rock on his hand. Hooking his fingers, he pressed, wondering whether it was enough to get a reaction out of her.

“Mmm…”

She pressed backward, obviously taking his fingers as far into herself as the clothing would allow. He knew it wasn’t enough, though. He watched her face as he moved his other hand over to join the first. Instead of moving it beneath her, however, he began by rubbing small circles over the front of her trousers. She smiled.

“Yes… Lower…”

The softness of her lips pressed into his fingers as he moved them slowly downwards, putting pressure as he circled them. Her eyes locked with his and she bit down on her bottom lip as he explored her through her clothing.

“Yes, Severus… yes…” Her hips rocked forward, pressing his fingers into her tightly. “Right there… Right _there_ …”

Her eyes fluttered closed as his fingers moved over the small bump that must have been her clit. Hot and slightly damp against the material of her trousers, Severus had to wonder whether he would have ever discovered it on his own. He pressed forward again, enjoying the sounds she made.

“Ohhhh… Oh, yes, just there…” Her hands rose to squeeze her breasts. “Please, Severus… more… Make me come, Severus…”

Severus’ mind buzzed with the visuals before him. Hermione Granger in his lap – her head thrown back, and her hands on her breasts – was creating a hot, wet spot on his hand. He hooked his fingers even further, pressing the material into her as much as he could. He circled his thumb over and over on her clit, varying the pressure.

“Mmm, that’s just… I – I…”

She drove down on his fingers, grinding and rocking. Her fingers moved to pinch her nipples, keeping Severus’ attention fully focussed on them. Shock rushed through him when he felt a rush of wet heat on his hand, followed swiftly by a loud groan. He wasn’t far enough inside her to feel the full effect of her orgasm, but her lips spasmed, tightening and contracting for what must have been close to a full half a minute. He continued rubbing against her, doing her the same courtesy as she had done him. He managed to catch her when she fell against him again.

“Perfect,” she whispered against the collar of his shirt. “Just perfect.”

With exhaustion – both physical and mental – now trying to claim him, Severus could only agree. He kept his wits about him, however, by force. He flicked his wand around the store, closing the shades, locking the register and placing stasis charms over the entire worktable, just in case. When he was finally done, he turned to see Hermione waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.

“I assume there’s a bed upstairs?” She grinned when he nodded. “Then, shall we?”

*~*

“Salamander!”

Severus’ eyebrows rose towards his hairline when Hermione strode into the store at just after three the next day. He finished assisting his last customer before turning his attention to her.

“I beg your pardon?”

She placed a small, tightly-wrapped package on the counter before him. “Salamander,” she repeated, looking at him as though he had been part of the conversation this word was clearly the end of. “This is the heart of a salamander.”

“Congratulations,” he began before the meaning of her excitement clicked. “A salamander, you say?”

“Thrice now.”

He shot her a silencing look. The package was wrapped completely in wax paper. He unwrapped it carefully, making sure he kept his nails away from the delicate muscles and ligaments as the heart fell into his hand. Even with what must have been a rather complex stasis charm placed on it, he could feel the heat emanating from it.

“Where did you get this?” he demanded.

“Fred and George sometimes need a touch of heat in their products. The skin is what is usually used, but it colours the creams they use it for. The heart, however, still creates its own heat without having any effect whatsoever on the colour.”

Severus’ eyes narrowed. “Why are you only just suggesting this now?”

“Because we don’t use them that often. We only just got our latest shipment in this morning; the first in about half a year. Will it work, do you think?”

Staring down at the heart in his hand, Severus frowned. Yes, it was true that salamanders created their own heat; that was why they were found in fires, after all. Could the muscles and tendons in this tiny thing be the answer to his problem?

“There is only one way to find out.”

Putting the potion together was not difficult, thankfully. Because he had begun the process of creating it when he had been in the hospital, he had had no access to his equipment so, by necessity, the potion had to be able to be created with the most basic of ingredients and kit. When he glanced up, Hermione was sitting in her regular position at the end of the table, watching avidly.

“Come here,” he ordered. “You can do it this time.”

It took much longer than when he did it himself, but he figured that if she truly was coming to his store in order to learn, then he had better do some form of teaching. Her fingers were deft, though. He watched as she measured and strained the ingredients, not saying a word unless she glanced to him for confirmation. She even managed to slice the heart into exacting pieces. When it came time to finish the potion off, however, Severus stepped up to the table.

“The final stages of this potion are difficult.”

Hermione opened her mouth, seeming to want to object, but one glance at his raised eyebrow had her subsiding. “Thank you for letting me get this far, at least.”

Severus inclined his head. Waving his wand, he collected all of the needed ingredients in front of him, beside the small silver cauldron he used to mix it all. Waving his wand, the ingredients all spiralled up into the air. He added them carefully, at three, then six, then three second intervals, stirring with his wand once per ingredient. The salamander heart was the last to be added. Severus held his breath, not knowing whether this change of ingredient was even going to allow the rest of the potion to work. When the cauldron began to glow a bright yellow, he released the breath in a rush.

“It worked?”

“So far.” Severus scooped a small amount of the potion into a glass phial and moved quickly over to where he had been conducting his experiments. “We will see now.”

He removed the stasis charm on the semen they had collected the night before and heated it to just above body temperature. Spreading a thin layer of the potion on the surface, he then added the semen. His heart felt as though it was going to burst through his chest when nothing happened after a few seconds. Leaning over the surface, he peered at the potion, trying to make out any difference in the composition.

_No coagulation…_

Severus raised his eyes to meet hers. “Congratulations, Miss Granger. It seems that you have solved the problem.”

The added heat that the salamander heart produced on its own must have been just enough to prevent the gelatine it lent the potion from congealing as both it and the semen cooled. The smile that Hermione shot him sent a shiver straight down his spine.

“It worked?”

“Take a look for yourself.”

He stepped back, watching as she bent over the surface, studying the potion from all sides. Her hair fell forward, covering her face, but she seemed to not notice it. He allowed his eyes to trail along the length of her body as she moved, taking in the sight of her trim waist and surprisingly long legs. When she turned to face him, her eyes held a by-now very familiar gleam to them.

“Do you think we could maybe… test it out?”

Severus’ cock told him that that was a genius idea. His nerves shivered at the thought, however. Knowing instinctively that it would be he who tested the potion had his heart thudding against his ribcage. He would have to lie prone before her, giving up any form of control he had. He would have to _trust_ her. His stomach flipped with the realisation that he may actually _want_ to trust her. He took a small step forward, his fingers twitching towards her.

“Yes, Severus.”

They made quick work of shutting the store up early, flicking their wands over everything that needed to be shut or locked, before making their way up the staircase. Hermione entered the bedroom before him and was standing at the foot of the bed, waiting for him to join her.

“Strip.” It was an order, not a question. “Completely naked, please.”

She rolled the small phial of the potion between her fingers as she waited. Severus lowered his gaze, choosing to watch his own fingers undoing the buttons on his shirt rather than her. This turn of events had not occurred to him and, now that they were here, his nerves seemed to be singing. He almost jumped when she stepped up to him and replaced his fingers with her own.

“It’s alright, Severus. I’ll take good care of you.”

It was the same tone of voice she had been using whenever they were together; soft, with a touch of command. It was a voice that he wanted to trust with a desperation that stunned him.

“Hermione.”

Her eyes met his. “You’re safe with me, Severus.” She smiled at the shiver he gave when the back of her fingers brushed against the bare skin of his chest. “I swear it.”

Her hands circled around his hips when she had his shirt completely unbuttoned. It seemed that she wasn’t going to give him any chance to get used to the idea of being naked in front of her, though, as she immediately took to his fly. She took his pants with the trousers as she shoved them down and over his hips.

“On your back on the bed, please.”

Severus shivered, resisting the urge to cover his nakedness. The tingle of excitement and anticipation that ran through him, however, countered the urge. He glanced down at himself when he lay flat on the bed. His heart was racing so fast he could see it in his chest, thudding rapidly. He took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then released it. When he sought Hermione out again, it was to find her smiling down at him from the end of the bed.

“Very good, Severus. Just relax there, I’ve got you.” She was still fully dressed when she climbed onto the bed to crawl along the length of his body. “I’ve got you.”

With that, she lowered her head so she could nip at his clavicle. Her teeth were sharp, sending tiny jolts of pain through him, the pleasure going straight to his cock. He raised his chin, offering her his throat as well, earning himself a low chuckle. His hands moved automatically to grip her hips, then around to squeeze her arse.

“Uh-uh.” She laughed outright when he let out a frustrated sound. “I think I may have to do something about your wandering hands, Severus.”

Without even waiting for a response from him, she raised his hands above his head and muttered a charm. The sensation of leather sliding over his wrists caused Severus to gasp. He tugged when she released him, but the straps were fastened tight.

“Much better, don’t you think?”

“No.”

“‘No’? You’ve been told not to touch before, yes?”

Severus clenched his teeth. “Yes.”

“This will help with that.” She smiled when he tugged his hands again. “Trust me, Severus.”

Eyeing her as she slid off the bed again, he let out a breath. It seemed that he had little choice when it came to whether he would trust her with this. Not that his cock was complaining, he realised; it stood proudly against his stomach.

“Just relax, Severus. It will all be alright.”

Taking another breath, he let it out slowly. Keeping his eyes on her, his heart rate sped up a little when she uncapped the bottle. There was enough of the potion to cover his entire abdomen, he knew. Exactly how she would use it, however, he did not know.

“Just relax, Severus… You’re doing so well.”

She spread the potion on his skin, smearing it up and over his nipples, which stood to attention as she rubbed them. The potion was not allowed to collect in the hollows of his clavicles and the base of his throat, he noticed, but he was unsure whether he cared about that at this point. He held his breath when she finished and stood back at the end of the bed.

“ _Fulgora_.”

The sparks left her wand and hit his skin with a shock that had him hissing. Dancing up and over his stomach, they hit him like tiny pinpricks, each one sending a sharp jolt of pleasure through him. He now understood the moans and twitches the man had given the previous month when Severus had cast the spell at him: the combined pain and pleasure had his cock immediately twitching in response.

“Yes, Severus… Good, good. You are doing so well…”

His skin tingled and not from the sparks. Meeting her eyes caused lust to shoot through him fast enough that he groaned.

“More.”

Her raised eyebrow would have amused him at any other time. She didn’t question his demand, however.

“ _Fulgora_.”

The second lot of sparks bounced up chest, popping and sparking on his nipples. He arched his back when one of them managed to make it to his throat. His hands tugged at their restraints, but they held tight. When the last of these sparks died out, he lowered himself back to the bed, his chest and stomach aching.

“Very good, Severus, _very_ good…”

Her voice was softer this time, but the praise still sent shivers through him. He reopened his eyes to find her watching him avidly, her lips open and panting. She reached very deliberately down between her legs and pressed her hand against herself.

“More?”

Severus nodded silently, unsure whether he would even be capable of speech. When she spread the potion this time, though, it wasn’t over his chest. Her hands rubbed softly over the lower part of his abdomen, then down through his pubic hair and over the tops of his thighs. His cock twitched at her proximity, causing her to chuckle.

“All in good time.”

He didn’t get a chance to question that remark. He bit down on his lip hard enough to almost draw blood when she cast the spell this time.

“ _Fulgora_.”

It was clear to him that she had not used a strong version of the spell, as the sparks that danced over his erect cock did not have the kind of potency that the first lot did. The pain was strong enough that it had him arching his back anyway. He panted as one of the sparks bounced up and over the head of his cock, both needing it to touch him, and not. She cast the spell a second time when he lowered himself back to the bed.

“Yes, Severus, yes… You are doing so well… You have no idea what you are doing to me…”

Severus forced his eyes open at that. She stood at the end of the bed, her wand held loosely in one hand, the other running light touches all over her body. His mouth opened, but the only sound he could make was a desperate-sounding groan.

“You want this.” It was a statement. “You want me.”

“Yes,” he croaked.

He was so fucking hard that he knew that he probably would not last very long, no matter what she chose to do to him next. His skin sang with the remains of the pain from the sparks and he was so tense it felt as though he would shatter when she touched him. Still, he needed this – needed _her_ – with a desperation that he hadn’t felt in too long.

“Please.”

She smiled. “ _Evanesco_.”

The tits he had been fantasising about for weeks now were just as magnificent as he had imagined them to be. Small, probably, by other’s standards, but a handful each was all he asked. They jiggled when she moved, stepping up onto the bed, causing him to let out another rather desperate-sounding noise. His fingers twitched and he tugged at the infuriating leather holding him back.

“I need you to fuck me, Severus.” He huffed out a breath that had her grinning. “I want to come with you inside me, do you understand?”

He nodded rapidly, his cock twitching at the idea. She murmured a protection charm before lowering herself to her knees. She spread her legs and grasped his cock in one hand. The other went to the lips of her cunt. She spread herself before him, grinning again when he licked his lips. One of her fingers dipped down between her lips and came out shining wet. She rubbed it slowly all over her clit as she held his gaze.

“Hermione…”

She moved so rapidly that Severus didn’t even register what had happened until he was encased inside her. Heat radiated around his aching cock, causing him to make an unintelligible noise in the back of his throat.

“Fuck me, Severus.”

His head now spinning with unsatisfied lust, he bent his knees and spread his legs, giving himself some leverage. His first thrust caused her tits to bounce and her to smile.

“Yes, Severus… more… faster…”

He complied. Pushing with his feet and stomach muscles, he thrust up into her as she rubbed her hands all over herself. She avoided touching her tits, though, which frustrated him no end.

“God, yes, just like that… Good, so good…” She rocked forward, one hand now sliding down to rub over her clit again. “Ohhh, yes…”

Severus forced himself to keep his eyes open, watching her as he moved beneath her. Her mouth opened as she panted, her head falling back to expose the long, pale length of her throat to his eyes.

“Fuck me, Severus, fuck me…”

His head swimming and his muscles clenching, he quickened his pace as much as possible. One of her hands went to squeeze her nipple, the other still working furiously over her clit. She rocked and bounced with him, meeting him on the upthrust.

“Ohh, yes… yesss…”

The muscles of her cunt clenched and spasmed around him as she came. The sounds she let out had him struggling to hold on.

“Hermione,” he panted, his voice tense. “Please…”

“ _Evanesco_.”

She fell forward the second she released his hands from the bonds. He caught her as she fell, his hands immediately going to squeeze her tits. His hips jerked, his cock throbbing with the need of release. When she bit down on his clavicle, the sharp jolt of pain was all he needed. When his cock began to spasm, his hands seemed to go with it. They clenched around those perfect tits, pressing them up as he came deep inside her with a groan.

 _Finally_ …

He could feel her moving. She slid off his cock, her natural lubrication making the movement easy.

“Christ, Severus.”

He forced one eye open. She sat beside him on the bed, her hair flying all over, and her cheeks ruddy. When she met his eyes, he cocked an eyebrow at her.

“That was perfect.”

To his surprise, he found himself smiling. He watched as she cast a cleansing charm over the both of them, then leant forward, hovering over him.

“You should keep a personal supply of that potion.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I will expect to be fucked like that on a regular basis, of course.”

Before he could respond, she lowered her head and kissed him for the first time. It wasn’t soft – he was unsure anything between the two of them ever would be – but it was what he needed. His hands gripped her hips, pressing until she lay down beside him.

“Of course,” he repeated, earning himself a low chuckle.

The red brassiere returned to his dreams that night once more. He found that he never wanted it to leave.


End file.
